Students pick Obama in race
If it were left to the students of Dorchester County, Democratic nominee Barack Obama would be the president of the United States.
On Tuesday, the county election board held a mock election at Summerville, Fort Dorchester, Woodland and Ashley Ridge high schools and at St. George Middle School. The agency set up 38 actual voting machines for the students to use during their lunch time. It was the first time the election board has done this.
"It went great. It was kind of wild at Summerville. I know some kids didn't get a chance to vote because the lunch bell rang," said Kathy Worthington, deputy director of elections. "We ended up getting about 50 percent participation at most places. By all accounts, that would be a good turnout for an election."
Of the 3,156 votes cast, Obama received 1,844 which equates to 58.4 percent of the vote. Republican nominee John McCain garnered 1,198 votes or 38 percent of the ballot. The rest of the votes were given to Green Party nominee Cynthia McKinney, Libertarian nominee Bob Barr, PET Party nominee Ralph Nader and Constitutional Party nominee Chuck Baldwin.
Obama won the popular vote at all five schools.
Worthington said St. George Middle School, which is located within a few blocks of the election board's office, was the first to request holding a mock election. Fort Dorchester High School also made a request, and from there it was decided to expand the effort to other schools and run it on a single day.
"We thought about doing it with paper ballots, but we really wanted the kids to be able to use the machines," she said. "We'll try to make this a regular deal. I think everyone enjoyed it."
As a bonus to giving the students a practical lesson in civics, the election board ended up recruiting some help for the real election day.
"We got a great response from the 16- and 17-year-olds to work at the polls," Worthington said.
Contact Bill Henley at 937-5865 or at bhenley@postandcourier.com
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Comments
This article has 3 comment(s)
Posted by BlueGrits on October 10, 2008 at 11:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
My kids 12 and 15 both support Mr. Obama. They both know that:
1) He's probably the smartest guy in the room, no matter where he goes. This guy has a brain the size of a Buick. And he seems to know how to use it. If problems arise (and they will), he's got the tools to figure out a solution. That's a refreshing change.
2) He understands poverty and injustice. He is not a child of priviledge like McCain and Bush.
3) He is an achiever. He's pulled himself up from the bottom, and has risen to the top as evidenced by his being first in his class at Harvard and President of the Harvard Law Review. Again, that is not like Bush or McCain, who scraped by academically their entire lives.
4) He is willing to supply details. Check out his website. He actually has cogent explanations of his policies.
5) He takes the high road. He actually does unite people, and make them feel like there's something worth fighting for.
6) He is accessible. He takes questions, and can actually form complete sentences when he answers them.
7) He chose a completely qualified person as his Vice President.
8) He doesn't look like he's going to die at any moment.
9) He had the courage and wisdom to oppose Iraq.
10) He understands that there is no such thing as 'Victory' in Iraq.
11) His family seems well balanced, well raised, and happy. That reflects well on him.
12) He has a sense of humor.
13) He doesn't scare my kids when he smiles.
14) His health care plan actually makes sense. It is sweeping, detailed, and logical.
15) He understands where the War on Terror should actually be fought.
16) When he goes to a foreign country, he doesn't embarrass me.
Obama/Biden 08!!
Posted by DTMB_isQ_ear on October 11, 2008 at 6:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
holy cow, bluegrits kids live in la la land...lol
Posted by norv on October 13, 2008 at 7:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Follow this link for info on the financial crisis that the Democrats don't want you to know.
http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Re...